For Dan Connor, it's a welcome return to the stage and to a 'Birdie' starring role

By JOE ADCOCK, P-I THEATER CRITIC

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, November 9, 2006

Dan Connor figures that one reason why he landed the title role in "Bye Bye Birdie" is that he "burped during the audition." "Intentionally," he adds.

Birdie makes up in charisma what he lacks in refinement. The character is based on Elvis Presley, though the name "Conrad Birdie" is derived from Conway Twitty -- another conscientiously unpolished pop singer.

"Bye Bye Birdie" premiered on Broadway in 1960. The story takes a page from Elvis' life: his much-publicized career timeout when he did a stint in the military.

Birdie is about to be inducted into the Army. Just before he heads off to basic training, wouldn't it be great publicity if he kissed a wholesome, pretty small-town girl goodbye on national TV, on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to be precise? If you answered "yes," you are attuned to the innocent publicity stunts of mid-20th-century America.

"Birdie" is credited with introducing the first hints of rock music into a staid Broadway musical style. The Village Theatre's revival of the show opens this weekend.

Dan Connor's blue-collar, man of the people cred goes way beyond being able to burp on cue. His day job is working construction either as a self-employed general contractor or as a foreman for another builder. During high school (in Arroyo Grande, a small town in central California), he worked in his father's auto shop.

"Elvis Presley and James Dean were my heroes," he said in an interview last week. "Blue jeans and a white T-shirt, that was me, driving an old Mustang.

"I ended up in Seattle because of a girl. I followed her up here."

The Village production offers Connor a second chance in the Birdie role. "I played it when I was a senior in high school," he says. "It was great -- the girls swooning all over me. It was surreal. But this time I'm better suited to the role. I can hit lower notes. My voice is growlier.

"In high school, my voice was a little too pretty for the role. I had classical training. For one thing, smoking rasps up my voice, which is good. My wife hates smoking, though. I'm going to give it up right after the show closes."

Connor is 25. "Birdie" marks his return to the musical stage after a two-year hiatus. He was in the Village's 2004 production of "South Pacific." His wife, Katie, was pregnant at the time. The Connors' daughter, Holly, was born five days after "South Pacific" closed.

Holly is blind. "Her optic nerve didn't develop normally," Connor says. "Taking care of her has involved a lot of extra effort. So I gave up theater. She's doing well enough now for me to take a break. Our hope is that stem cell research will come up with something that will help her to see, something that can generate normal nerve tissue.

"That might be available in Europe now, but I don't make that kind of money. So we sit and twiddle our thumbs and wait and hope. But Seattle has great services for the blind."

Connor is the lead singer in a rock band that does covers. It is called Blind Child. Connor has been performing in public since he was 3 -- if you count church choirs. By the time he was 8, he was ready to play the title role in "Oliver!" at a theater in San Luis Obispo.

As those of us who are along in years remember, Elvis was photographed only from the belt up when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956. Presley's bump-and-grind stage presence had earned him the name of "Elvis the pelvis." His below-the-belt form of self-expression was not deemed acceptable for Sunday night mass audience TV viewing.

"I've studied those moves," Connor says. "I get up there on stage and shake my hips -- not necessarily obscene gestures."

Burping, while not required, adds a nice touch to the Birdie portrait. "It's fairly easy, just swallow a bunch of air," Connor advises. "But during rehearsals we've been experimenting with ways to make it easier. I've tried sipping ginger ale and club soda. But, for me, tonic water works best."